Blue River Sand Barrens features oak barrens and sand dunes on an old alluvial plain of the Wisconsin River. The site is easy to reach with parking along Wightman Road, a sandy/gravelly access lane. Blue River Sand Barrens is another of my all-time favorite sites. The presence of moving sand dunes is similar to Spring…
Tag: Wisconsin
Blue River Bluffs, SNA #316 (80/674)
Blue River Bluffs is one of my favorite sites. Easy to find, easy to access, great views, a wide variety of species; all in all, just a great SNA. There are two parcels for Blue River Bluffs; both can be accessed by parking along the road, either Old County C Road for the west parcel…
Richwood Bottoms, SNA #249 (79/674)
Richwood Bottoms contains an excellent floodplain forest along the Wisconsin River. An access lane heads south from STH 60 and dead-ends at a gate near a bridge that the DNR uses to reach the area. From here, walk across the bridge and then southeast approximately 1/2 mile to the northern edge of the site. I…
Mud Lake Fen & Wet Prairie, SNA #604 (78/674)
Mud Lake Fen & Wet Prairie is exactly what it sounds like, although the fen is much smaller than the wet prairie. It can be reached from a parking area off of Conservation Road south of Lake Mills. One parking area is directly on that road and another is 1/4 mile north on an access…
Grassy Lake, SNA #548 (77/674)
Having explored an SNA or two, one thing I have realized is that when a site is named something like Grassy Lake, sometimes the site is only the lake and sometimes its hundreds of additional acres. This is a case of the former. It is an easy site to find with a parking area on…
Rocky Run Oak Savanna, SNA #220 (76/674)
Diverse topography is the dominant feature at Rocky Run Oak Savanna. Undulating terrain is found on a south-facing slope overlooking Rocky Run Creek. As part of the Rocky Run State Fishery Area, a parking area is located off of Hwy 22, south of Wyocena. A narrow access lane opens up to an old agricultural field…
Pine Cliff, SNA #19 (75/674)
Pine Cliff is a rare pine relict in the southern part of Wisconsin and is unusual for the presence of all three of Wisconsin’s native pine species: red, white, and jack. Located within Governor Dodge State Park in Iowa County, ample parking is available and a leisurely walk around Cox Hollow Lake will lead you…
Hook Lake Bog, SNA #242 (74/674)
Hook Lake Bog is a high quality bog in Dane County featuring a soft water bog lake, rare for this part of the state. Found within Hook Lake Wildlife Area, there are several ways to reach the property, one of which didn’t exist when I visited. The first suggestion from the DNR is to park…
Echo Lake, SNA #445 (73/674)
Echo Lake SNA is composed of several wetland ecosystems: bog, northern wet forest, alder thicket, cedar swamp, and of course, the lake itself. Reaching the site is fairly easy via FR2460 off of which there is a small parking area. Trails emanate from here and lead towards the lake. Visiting Echo Lake was my last…
Pat Shay Lake, SNA #446 (72/674)
Pat Shay Lake protects stands of old-growth hemlock and other mixed forests along with a bog, sedge meadow, and the eponymous lake. Access is available from several points along Butternut Lake and Knapp Roads. The easiest access to the lake is from the latter. The Hidden Lakes Trail within the CNNF skirts the southeastern edge…
Scott Lake & Shelp Lake, SNA #117 (71/674)
Scott Lake and Shelp Lake SNA contains, appropriately enough, Scott Lake and Shelp Lake. The area around the lakes is northern mesic forest consisting of mostly hemlock with a few large red and white pines. Near the lakes are areas with black spruce and tamaracks as well as open bog and shrub swamp. The site…
Argonne Experimental Forest, SNA #441 (70/674)
Argonne Experimental Forest contains a northern mesic forest and conifer swamp within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. The SNA is located within a research forest of the same same which is administered by the US Forest Service. The larger experimental forest is one of 24 in the northern US and one of three in Wisconsin (Harshaw…
Waubesa Wetlands, SNA #114 (69/674)
Waubesa Wetlands features a sedge meadow, fen, and shrubb-car habitat in an old lobe of Lake Waubesa. Overland access is available from a small (2-car) parking area on Lalor Road (aka Rustic Road 19). From there, a access trail along a fenceline leads to the site. Further south on the same road the site boundaries…
Copper Falls, SNA #399 (68/674)
Copper Falls features waterfalls (of course!) as well as oxbows and dry and dry-mesic forests along the Bad River in Ashland County. It is found within its namesake state park, with the SNA encompassing much of the land along the river north of its confluence with the Tyler Forks River as well as Copper Falls…
Yellowstone Savanna, SNA #363 (67/674)
Yellowstone Savanna consists of oak savanna and a small dry prairie remnant within Yellowstone Lake State Park. Parking is available within the park at a few spots depending on how far you are interested in hiking. The Blue Ridge, Windy Ridge, and Savanna Loop trails provide access to the SNA. This is a site where…
